Liquid Ejection Head Vibrating Plate for Reliable Thin-Layer Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing liquid ejection heads face challenges in ensuring proper sealing between vibrating plates and flow channel members, leading to increased manufacturing costs due to the need for matching outer shapes, which can complicate bonding and adhesive thickness requirements.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a vibrating plate with a central part and thinner wall parts, allowing for a smaller and more cost-effective structure by reducing the size of the vibrating plate while maintaining adhesiveness, and utilizing a thinner adhesive layer to ensure sealing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the vibrating plate is made with the same outer shape as the flow channel member to ensure proper sealing, then sealing reliability is improved, but device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vibrating plate is divided into a central part and a peripheral part with different thicknesses. The peripheral part has a smaller thickness to reduce overall size and complexity, while the central part maintains sufficient thickness for sealing functionality. This segmentation allows the plate to achieve both reduced complexity and maintained reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the vibrating plate are given different thickness characteristics. The peripheral part has reduced thickness for cost-effectiveness and reduced complexity, while the central part maintains adequate thickness for sealing. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction by optimizing each region for its specific function.
2Ease of manufacture
If the vibrating plate size is reduced to lower manufacturing cost, then manufacturing cost is improved, but sealing capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The vibrating plate is segmented into central and peripheral regions with different thicknesses. This allows the overall plate size to be reduced for lower manufacturing cost, while the central part maintains sufficient thickness to ensure sealing capability is not compromised.
Solution Approach 2:
The peripheral part of the vibrating plate has reduced thickness to minimize manufacturing cost, while the central part maintains adequate thickness for sealing. This local quality differentiation enables cost reduction without sacrificing sealing capability.
3Reliability
If the adhesive layer thickness is increased to ensure sealing, then sealing reliability is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vibrating plate structure is segmented with the peripheral part having reduced thickness, which creates a smaller bonding area. This reduces the total adhesive quantity needed and allows for thinner adhesive layers, thereby reducing the precision requirements for adhesive thickness control while maintaining sealing reliability.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration reduces manufacturing costs by minimizing the size of the vibrating plate and ensuring effective sealing, while maintaining the integrity of the adhesive bond, thus improving the manufacturing process efficiency.
Implementation Method 1
a vibrating plate is deformed using an actuator formed of a piezoelectric body such as lead zirconate titanate (PZT) to thereby deform a pressure chamber facing the vibrating plate to eject liquid from a nozzle
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid ejection head includes a nozzle plate including a plurality of nozzles from which liquid is ejected, a first substrate facing the nozzle plate and in which a plurality of pressure chambers each communicating with a corresponding one of the nozzles are formed, and a first vibrating plate on the first substrate, forming walls of the pressure chambers, and capable of vibrating to cause the liquid to be ejected from each of the nozzles independently. The first vibrating plate includes a central part at which the walls of the pressure chambers are formed and a pair of thin-wall parts by which the central part is sandwiched, a thickness of the thin-wall parts being smaller than that of the central part.